RIESLING: UNITED STATES

+MUST TRY+ 
White Pine Dry Riesling
Southwestern Michigan (St. Joseph)
Riesling (white)
2010
88 pts
$14.99
If I hadn't tasted it myself--twice, to be sure--I wouldn't have believed it: a crisp, refreshing, outstanding dry Riesling from grapes grown in southwestern Michigan. Produced by White Pine Winery--which maintains a storefront tasting room in the popular (though still charming) summer resort town of St. Joseph, Michigan--the 2010 Dry Riesling is an attractive pale straw color, offering a bouquet of peach and pear and a luscious mouth feel. While the initial attack is full of fresh apples, the taste profile also includes peach fuzz, pear, and even steely minerals.I also get a hint of flower petal on the back end. But while the beautiful color, multidimensional taste profile, and rich mouth feel are clear winners, the length is a letdown, with little staying power. But what there is, is delicious--and wonderful with appetizers or a light meal. This is a fantastic summer sipping wine from right here in the great Middle West, at just about fifteen bucks, a wine where you can clearly say YES! to Michigan.

GRUNER VELTLINER: AUSTRIA

Weingut Hutter Smaragd Gruner Veltliner
Austria: Wachau (Lower Austria)
Gruner Veltliner (white)
2006
88 pts
$15.99
Rocks and apples! That's the style here. Plus a little hint of vegetation (herbs). Has the all minerality I love in a Gruner but more of the herbal component than I've found in previous producers. For that reason, I find the Hutter GV interesting. The fruit definitely takes a back seat in the true Old World tradition, with even a hint of earthiness (almost a red-wine style mustiness) creeping into an already pretty complex taste profile. Color is pale yellow (not necessarily an attractive color to me...a bit urine-like, in fact). But the taste is well worth the somewhat awkward coloring. The nose reveals apples and stones and earth. An intriguing, tasty Austrian white...something different and original--and what's not to like about that? In the end, just a hint short of a MUST TRY for my palette (more rocks, less herbs, please), but still worth a try!

Mo-Velt Gruner Veltliner
Austria: Burgenland
Gruner Veltliner (white)
2008
80 pts
$8.99
Think of something you love, absolutely love. Could be a certain decadent chocolate, or your favorite Chicago pizza. Or maybe even your grandmother's homemade ravioli...or Mollie's Cupcakes? (tip: peach cobbler rocks for me, plain cupcake with buttercream frosting for Dana). Now, consider a cheap knockoff of the thing you love, seemingly market-tested to appeal to the widest possible audience, offending no one, and completely lacking the character, the substance, and the unique qualities (and quality) of the original. So it is with the Mo-Velt Gruner Veltliner, which drinks more like a Chenin Blanc than a Gruner. Lots of tart fruit (mostly citrus, a hint of apple skin), and while there is a bit of minerality on the dry finish, this one's not true to the character of GV, selling out the rocks for the fruit. With this wonderful and refreshing Austrian varietal, one should taste the stony, rocky limestone northeast of Vienna, at least as much as the fruit. But the Mo-Velt misses the mark: it's like lemon-lime Koolaid flavored with a single stone on the bottom. Not disgusting, mind you, but a bastardization of the varietal that offers nothing you can't easily get from grocery-store producers in California or Australia, probably for even less than $8.99. It's also named after Mozart (with related artwork on the label), which is odd, since ol' Wolfgang was from Salzburg, nowhere near the Mo-Velt winery in Burgenland (more than 200 km away). Perhaps some may argue this is an "entry level' Gruner, but IMO it just goes too far, to the point where one can't really even distinguish it from other varietals. Looking for love in all the wrong places...and not a wine I'll buy again.

+MUST TRY+
Johann Kattus Hochriegl Halbsüß
Austria: Vienna
Gruner Veltliner & Riesling Blend (white sparkling)
A Non-Vintage Wine
89 pts
$8.00
What an interesting little sparkler. Purchased a mini-bottle at the grocery store in Hallstatt's new town for about €2,00 when we were in Austria last summer, carried it home in the suitcase, and tasted it just yesterday, a rainy Saturday in Chicago, mid-September. The aroma of this wine is oaky and buttery, ala a New World Chardonnay, and yet there's no Chardonnay in this wine. As far as taste, I really like the Hochriegl: the minerality of the Gruner clearly comes through, especially on the mid-palette and finish, but there's a balance with fruit, too (delicate peach) that works for me. The fruit is the initial attack, while the transition to the minerals seems to pause (like mid-air slow motion) just long enough for some Old World funk to come through...also an unusual flavor for a white sparkler. As if that's not enough going on, there are also buttery oak undertones; I'm guessing the Riesling used in the blend spent some time in French oak? I've learned that this is a popular sparkling wine in Austria, and I can certainly see why: offers some nice complexity for about $8.00 US per regular-sized bottle. Alas, it doesn't look like this wine is available for purchase, however, in the States, although it is available in some countries of Europe beyond Austria. Because the flavor profile of this dry sparkling white is more mineral and funk than fruit, I'm not sure everyone will love this wine (although the hints of oak are nicely, subtly done). But it strikes the right balance for me, and it has an authenticity to it...tastes a little like Austria in a glass. If you're in the neighborhood (Vienna or Salzburg, let's say!), I think you should try this one. It sure won't break the bank.

Meinklang Gruner Veltliner
Austria: Burgenland (far eastern Austria, bordering Slovakia, Hungary and Slovenia)
Gruner Veltliner (white)
2008
82 pts
$12.99
Will cut to the chase on this one: tasteless for the vast majority of time this wine is in your mouth, followed by a quick pear-citrus combo, and then the lingering minerality common to the varietal on the finish. But in the case of the Meinklang Gruner Veltliner, while the length is very sound, the aftertaste--post finish, really--is not one I find pleasing. While I like the mouth feel--even picking up a hint of creaminess, perhaps?--the taste just doesn't come close to the potential Gruner Veltliner possesses. Interestingly, this is an organic wine, with the grapes grown sans chemical fertilizers, and the firm actually owns about 300 of its own angus cows, using the dung for fertilizer. Purchased this wine at Cellar Rat on North Avenue in Chicago, an interesting little shop that strives to introduce wine lovers to smaller family vineyards ("Corporate Wine Still Sucks" appears to be its motto). This isn't a terrible Gruner Veltliner, and I do understand that the biodynamic wines appeal to those seeking a more organic food and wine experience--and I've read one reviewer who thinks this wine shows better when paired with food--but to me, if it can't stand on its own merits in terms of taste, everything else is just spin. Will finish the bottle--because that's how I roll--but don't recommend this one, and won't buy it again.

Salomon Undhof Hochterrassen Gruner Veltliner (by Salomon Undhof)
Austria: Kremstal
Gruner Veltliner (white)
2009
85 pts
$14.99
This Austrian white has received very strong marks by distinguished critics for recent vintages—and Salomon is a respected producer of both Rieslings and Gruner Veltliners, with its vineyards split equally between these two varietals—but the 2009 I picked up at a wine shop on Linzergasse (in Salzburg’s new town) last month, to bring home and enjoy, while it has its strengths, it’s just not my cup of tea. On the plus side, this wine possesses a nice, smooth mouth feel (medium) and is loaded with the varietal’s characteristic citrus flavor (mostly lime, here). In addition, it finishes with the pleasant minerality that ties this fine Austrian grape neatly to its rocky limestone terroir. I also find the length on the wine slightly above average. However, this GV is just too damn tart for my palette, so tart in fact that I winced a few times, the way I would as a kid when consuming the intentionally turbo-tart offshoot of Sweet Tart candy. And while the fruit this wine offers could never be accused of being too discreet, in terms of balance, I find it a little heavy-handed, coming on too strong, at least for my tastes. As for bouquet, I found it to be tight, not revealing very much to pique interest. I can’t recommend the Salomom Undhoff Hochterrassen Gruner Veltliner, although it's not a terrible wine. I suspect those who enjoy the sensation of extreme tart would enjoy this wine, and it does possess some fine characteristics of the varietal. I also wonder if the bottle aged a bit, a few years, perhaps, if the fruit would calm down a little, and the tartness, too. That experiment might be worth the $15.00 US, but to buy to drink now, not so much.

+MUST TRY+
Fred Loimer Gruner Veltliner "Lois" (by Fred Loimer)
Austria: Kamptal Region (north-northeast of Krems)
Gruner Veltliner (white)
2008
90 pts
$10.99 (sale) - $13.99 (regular)
Two for two with Gru-Vee! The Loimer Gruner Veltliner Lois, for my palette, is a Must Try for four simple reasons: the balance this wine strikes between fruit and minerality is fascinating and delicious (mostly pear, some apple, and then heavy minerality on the back end); this crisp light-to-medium bodied Austrian white, with just a touch of sparkle, feels great in the mouth; the length of the Lois is outstanding; and at $11.00 to $14.00 a bottle, this is a great bargain. Tastes great, feels great, lasts long, affordable and multi-dimensional. I think it's a hair less satisfying than the Fass 4, rated below at 90+, but the Lois is also $3.00-$6.00 cheaper per bottle. This is a wonderful wine.

+MUST TRY+
Gruner Veltliner Fass 4 (by Wiengut Bernhard Ott)
Austria: Wagram (14 miles NE of Vienna)
Gruner Veltliner (white)
2007
90+ pts
$17.00
I ordered this Austrian white a few months before our first trip to Austria--let's call it legitimate research--from Gary Vaynerchuck's Wine Library for $16.98: Wow. Have had a few other Gruner Veltliners (a grape native to Austria, accounting for 37% of the total vineyards there), and while they've generally been pleasant and well-suited to food (light bodied, with very subtle hints of minerals and citrus), I've found them almost too subtle, nearly without taste. But this is most certainly not the case with the Fass 4 by Ott winery. This wine has a nice nose, a lot of tobacco, which I always enjoy (in wine, that is), along with the customary GV hint of citrus. And the taste profile is just wonderful. I get nice apple, along with pear, with a very pleasing undercurrent of tobacco, to match the nose. And it's a more full-bodied wine than the other GVs I've tasted. As for length...the pleasant taste (which finishes with some of the minerality common to the region) lingers for minutes after swallowing, almost making one salivate. This is a refreshing white wine great with or without food, with a delicious yet multi-faceted taste and an outstanding finish--all at a very reasonable price. This one's a MUST TRY for me, maybe even the white wine for summer 2010. Not at all surprised to see that Wine Library has added this one to its best summer wines under $25.00 promotion. Highly recommend you give the Gruner Veltliner Fass 4 by Bernhard Ott a try...and soon!

RIESLING: GERMANY

+MUST TRY+
Dr. Heidemans-Bergweiler Riesling
Germany: Mosel River Valley
Riesling (white)
2009
89+ pts
$12.99
Picked up this German Riesling at Binny's Beverage Depot on Clark Street for thirteen bucks (it's a Gary Vaynerchuck rec on Daily Grape.com). GV got this one right; hell, I even think he may have underplayed it a bit, for my palette. This is a delicious wine, one I think that can change some minds about this varietal for those who view Riesling as a distasteful, Koolaid-like sweet wine...especially Rieslings at this price. While I find the nose to be awfully stingy, the mouth feel, taste, and length are outstanding. This is a medium-bodied German white offering bright citrus, fresh apple, and a long, dry finish with plenty of minerality. It's also a wonderfully balanced wine, with smooth, seamless transitions from the initial citrus burst to the mouthful of apples, and then to the encore of river rock-like minerals. The mineral finish, in particular, is rewarding...sort of like a Springsteen encore featuring Thunder Road and Jungleland: as good as the show was, the encore blows you away. Needless to say I like this wine, and give it a most-definite MUST TRY.

Starling Castle Riesling
Germany: Mosel-Saar Ruwer
Riesling (white)
2006
86+ pts
$9.99
The nose on this straw-colored, semi-sweet Riesling offers pear with a hint of tobacco, while the taste profile includes peach on the front end, heavy pear on the mid-palette, and a minerality on the finish. This wine starts sweet and finishes a bit sour. The length is slightly above average, and on extreme back end, there is even a nice dry finish (odd, really, in a semi-sweet Riesling). That's all pretty cool for a ten dollar bottle of wine, and if you prefer sweetness in your whites (as opposed to more mineralty or florality), this wine might be a MUST TRY for you. For my palette, it's a bit too sweet up front. Tried this wine with corned beef and cabbage, including a bit of horseradish with the beef. Not a great pairing. By no means a ripoff at ten bucks, but also not a wine I'm eager to keep on hand.

Römerhof Weinkellerei Riesling
Germany: Mosel River Valley (Trittenheim)
Riesling (white)
2009
85 pts
$8.99
Received this bottle of Mosel Riesling as part of a Christmas gift basket from a kind family at school, and opened her up this evening to try with Dana's homemade pesto and pasta. In terms of a food pairing--Riesling is so damn food friendly--a spicier dish would have been better, given the sweetness of this wine. The nose is awfully stingy--after it has warmed up a bit in the glass, I do get a little butter--but the mouth feel is quite pleasing (butter again comes to mind). The taste profile is quite fruit-forward, as one would expect, with quick little hits of peach and apricot and stronger, more sustained apple and pear flavors. The very back end possesses a hint of minerality (which I like), while the length is practically non-existent: poof! and it's gone. This is not a terrible wine, and in a pinch could go well with some spicey Asian dishes. But it's also not the kind of wine I enjoy drinking sans food, and despite the variety of fruit flavors offered, it drinks as a one-dimensional wine. Back in '09 Whole Foods had this wine on its Top Ten Holiday Wine List, and I can see it being consumed with cranberry sauce and stuffing, but still, just an average wine for my palette: beter than the worst junk Rieslings out there (i.e., Polka Dot), but nothing to get excited about, either.

+MUST TRY+
Carl Reh Riesling
Germany: Mosel River Valley
Riesling (white)
2009
89 pts
$9.99
Just enjoyed a few glasses of this bright and delicious Riesling from Germany at Dozika Pan-Asian in Evanston, where Sara, Ken, Jessica and I had lunch the day before Thanksgiving. Wow. Paired it with spicy Kung Pao chicken, which worked very nicely (Riesling is so food-friendly, given its acidity and potential for balancing out spicy dishes with a little sweetness and minerality). This wine, priced at $7.00 a glass at Dozika but about ten bucks a bottle retail, can also stand tall on its own. It's fresh, full of life, with a delightful taste that is reminiscent of the Apricot preserves my grandmother used to buy and serve on toasted white bread. This strikes me as a semi-dry wine, however (not at all candy sweet like some Kool-Aid style Rieslings) and even offers hints of minerality on the finish. Perhaps the only shortcoming is that the length is average, vanishing soon after consumption--and this, along with a lack of real complexity, of an interesting story to tell in terms of taste--keeps the Carl Reh Riesling from being a 90 point wine. That being said, this kind of deliciousness, along with such high potential for pairing with spicy Asian foods, at ten bucks a bottle? It's a MUST TRY!

S.A. Prüm "Essence" Riesling
Germany: Mosel River Valley
Riesling (white)
2009
87 pts
$13.00
Enjoyed dinner in Winter Park, FL with my dad, his wife Linda, and my sister Kim last night, at Ruth's Chris steak house. Not a steak guy, really, but this gave me the opportunity to test out a spicy Asian food-dry Riesling pairing, something I read about in Jay McInerney's book A Hedonist in the Cellar. I selected as my entree the large calamari appetizer, served at Ruth's Chris with a sweet & spicy Asian sauce, and as my wine, the Prum Essence Riesling. The citrus and sweetness in this German white are supposed to complement and balance the spiciness of Asian sauces and food. As it turns out, I like this wine a lot, but the pairing with this dish was just so-so. While the wine had a wonderful minerality to it and pleasing hints of lime--with a nice mouth feel and a slightly above average finish--this near dry/semi-sweet Riesling, so mineral driven, just didn't do enough to balance out the spices used on the calamari (could have used a bit more acidity, for my palette). I've since learned that the blue slate in the soil of this mid-valley estate accounts for the nice minerality. Still, on it's own or served with seafood or fish sans Asian spices, I think this is a good, solid semi-dry Riesling at a reasonable price--and a wine I would certainly drink, again. Compared to the Polka Dot Riesling reviewed below, this is a 91 point wine. On its own, I give it 87...nice, but not a mind blower, either.

+RUN AWAY NOW+
Polka Dot Medium Dry Riesling
Germany: Pfalz
Riesling (white)
2006
75 pts
$10.00
Need to start with two realities here: first, just about everyone who's rated the Polka Dot Medium Dry Riesling likes it a lot--but not me. Second, this is the first Riesling I've rated officially, and I'm no expert on the specific characteristics of this varietal. Those points aside, here's my honest take.

The color of this wine is yellow straw (light, even sort of airy), and the bouquet offers pear and nectarine. The company claims apricot on the nose, as well, but I don't pick that up. It's a sweet smell dominated by those fruits. As for taste, it's very light in the mouth (I've read this is an expected characteristic of the varietal, however), and the sweetness of the fruit--opening with pear, then transitioning, rather awkwardly, to a longer nectarine flavor--is displeasing for my palette: just too much for a wine described as Medium Dry. I also pick up a secondary floral taste, but that flavor does not seem at all in harmony with the dominating, sweet fruit. And the length of this wine is below average, a disappearing act. Riesling is recognized as one of the most food-friendly wines in the world, and I can see how the sweetness (plus a bit of acidity) would complement certain spicy foods (especially Asian?), but I don't care for the mouth feel, dominant flavors, level of sweetness, balance, or finish on the Polka Dot Riesling. It's just not a wine I want to drink again.